Wrestler, author in Meeker on Friday

MEEKER I Author Ray Coca will be in Meeker on Friday for a signing of his published book “Elite U.S. Dream … A Wrestling Story.”
“Wendll’s Wondrous Things” will host the sale and signing of the book on Friday from 12:30 p.m to 2 p.m. Gifts, souvenirs, scrapbooks and awards will also be on display during the book signing.
The 158-page book is a combination of an autobiography, history, sports, inside philosophy on how to win, a mechanism for wrestlers/coaches on training and the will to win, useful carry-over values, the meaning of TEAM and “paying it forward.”
The book also gives the reader an inside look at how a teenaged athlete approaches pressure, hardship and develops confidence in the fast-paced, competitive sports world of international wrestling.
The true story is an educational tool as well, to teach athletes how sports relate to the classroom and encourage students to prepare for life.
Coca was a former three-time Colorado state champion, a national runner-up and Division I All-America and a member of the first international exchange team that toured Japan in 1962.
The book has been reviewed by the local media in the Grand Junction area, including radio, television and three of the local newspapers.
The book was also reviewed nationally by Mike Gerald, a senior writer for Amateur Wrestling News.
Gerald wrote, in part: “Western State wrestler Ray Coca’s book recounts the almost-forgotten first international prep wrestling exchange between the United States and Japan. Coca, with a subsequent career in journalism, was a member of the carefully selected team that included 13 state place winners from both Oklahoma and Colorado.”
The book is available in the Mesa County Library and at all four District 51 schools.